Comments

Yes, my great-grandmother lived to 100 and my aunt will be 100 this November. She is the granddaughter of the former whose parents were from Germany. My great-grandmother was born in Leavenworth in 1860. Boy, did she see a lot of changes in society and with technology.

No, I've known & met lots & lots of ninety-plus year old people, but no-one that ever made it to a hundred. It's just the luck of the draw, I'm sure, but if you're approaching a certain age, there's no hard feelings if you'd rather not make my acquaintance.

Forty-one years ago, at the Paddington-Woollahra Returned Servicemen's League club in Sydney, a 102-year-old Aussie veteran of the Boer War (1899-1902). He was in good form, whiskey in fist, accompanied by a mate, well in his 90s, a WWI vet.

I knew a woman who was born in 1886. I met her in 1980, so she was only in her 90s, and I only spent time with her for a couple of months, but I do believe she managed to reach the century mark before she died. I was only 17 or 18 at the time and didn't usually think ahead much, but even I was aware that the chances of my ever meeting anyone with an earlier birthdate were slim to none.

She was a southerner by birth, from Knoxville, Tennessee, and her daddy was a bigwig on one of the railroads. She got to go to the White House once, as a cute little girl, and meet the President (McKinley, I think) and sit on his lap. She had a few sisters and a handsome older brother that she adored. ("My, how we idolized him!")

I heard a few of her stories back then, but if I'd had a grain of sense, I would have sat down with her every day and listened to everything she could possibly recall about her life.

These comments remind me: Where did I read of the 100-plus-year-old man who was asked about the secret to his long life? His answer was the best ever: "I like it here." Hahahahahaha!!! I hope I get to use that myself, someday!

I had a great geat geat grandfather that lived to be 105. I believe he died in 1945 and was a veteran of the civil war. The story told was that things weren't so great for him after 100, he went both deaf and blind.

I suppose other than that, maybe 99 seems to be the limit. Although, it was not for quite a few decades that I realized that it's quite unusual for someone to remember all four of their grandparents and four of their great grandparents, as I did.

My great-grandfather was born in 1879, lived to be 97 and moved to the nursing home when he was 95. He was still capable of living on his own but wanted to be around people somewhat near his age because he was a bit lonely. He had outlived his wife, all of his siblings, in-laws, cousins, and friends. Year after he died the first of his children died.

My grandmother lived to be 108 in Ottawa. She was alert to the last day, worked hard on her weaving, listening to the radio (talking books), and got outside to plant new plants almost until she was 108. Her name was Grace, and she really lived up to that name. She wove quilts and gave them away to people in the community until almost her last day, and she had great independence of mind. Often when I was at KU I came over to visit and stay over night, and I always enjoyed my visits very much. Lawrence